Welp, did a kinda switcheroo on the truck front this week.
Some of you know my son and DIL recently had triplets. Since they don't really have a vehicle that's suitable for them, after talking options over, I decided we'd give them our truck for the babies. Once nice thing about the Crew Cab Ram trucks is there are three LATCH anchors across the rear bench. Most of the SUVs we looked at had two, plus the center being belted in. We test fit their infant car seats and the truck works for them, so we knew it would be a good fit. They also have a three-gang stroller which is pretty big, and it fits in the covered truck bed easily. Plus room for groceries. They haven't had a pickup before, but I think it will work out.
As we were contemplating options for replacing it, we drove by a local Ram dealer to take a look at the Dodge Durango. Well what do you know, sitting there they had a used '20 Ram 1500 on the lot with an acceptable price. So we bought that one and gave the '21 to my son. Turns out Florida has no gift tax, so all he had to pay was tag and license.
The bonus is despite the '20 being a year older, it's lower mileage and a 4x4, which I always wanted. Tow capacity is virtually identical, both are V8 Hemi with the 3.92 rear end, with the '20 having a small bit more cargo carrying capacity. (we are without a trailer at the moment, but you never know, heh). I'll miss the bigger tank (it has the normal 26 gallon tank) and built-in factory nav (I gather in '20 the uConnect 8.4 was available with or without Nav, this one does not). Still has wired carplay though, and I didn't really use the factory Ram nav in the truck much; I prefer Waze by a large margin.
I've not had 4WD since my fourth gen 2500 with the Cummins, and driving them back to back both my wife and I felt the 4x4 was a little top heavy? Hard to describe. I'm not really that truck savvy, so I'll need to read up on the 2WD, 4Auto, 4Hi and 5Low options. I did read the manual and watch some videos, so I am pretty much going to leave it in 2WD unless maybe I get into heavy rain or bad weather; I don't typically go off road. Still, if we ever tow again, I will value having the option, there were a couple times in RV parks I appreciated having 4WD previously.
The '20 is very smooth, and acceleration with the V8 rumble is nice. The motor seems quieter as well, I'm not quite sure what to make of that but it doesn't seem to have the hemi tick that my '21 has. I am not clear what oil is in the sump, perhaps could have an effect, but I'm not sure. The manual specifies 5W-20, so absent better input that's what I will use next oil change. The truck is factory "certified", meaning they give you a 3 month/3,000 mileage comprehensive warranty, and a 7 year/100,000 mile power train warranty.
There only a few things I need to address; a piece of the left rear door chrome trim was missing (I have he new piece, $82 shipped) and the tires appear to be the original 275/55x20 Nexens. Tread is down to about 5.5 mm, so, will soon need to order replacements (most likely Michelin Defender LTX, same as on the '21). There's more road noise but with the tires being that worn, it doesn't surprise me.
It's the right color, too.
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Originally Posted by RJ
